JOHN HERRON born April 3, 1792 married CLARISSA ANDERSON in 1817
Title: History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania: including its early settlement and progress to the present time ; a description of its historic and interesting localities ; its cities, towns and villages; religious, educational, social and military history ; mining, manufacturing and commercial interests, improvements, resources, statistics, etc. ; also, biographies of many of its representative citizens
Author: Cushing, Thomas, b. 1821
Pgs. a268, a269
JOHN HERRON descended from Scotch-Irish Prebyterians.His grandfather, FRANCIS HERRON, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and came to this country in 1734, settling eleven years thereafter on a creek now known as Herron’s branch, in Franklin County, Pa.He had two sons: JOHN, father of REV. FRANCIS HERRON, D. D., of the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, and JAMES, father of JOHN, the subject of this sketch.MAJ. JAMES HERRON was born in 1754, married NANCY DAVIDSON, and died April 24, 1829, at Shippensburg, Pa.He had four sons and two daughters: JOHN, NANCY (wife of JOHN CRISWELL), WILLIAM, JAMES, SARAH (wife of ROBERT McINTYRE) and SAMUEL D.
JOHN HERRON was born April 3, 1792, on Herron’s branch.In 1812 he went to Pittsburgh.His first position was as clerk for Ephraim Blaine in the lumber business.In a few years the young man bought Mr. Blaine’s interest and ran it for a time with great success.Afterward he and Col. James Anderson purchased the steam saw-and-gristmill of Maj. William Anderson, on what is now Eighth Street, below Penn Street, putting therein what was said to be the second steam engine west of the mountains.Later MR. HERRON bought out Col. Anderson. To his other interests he added a brickyard, and conducted an extensive business in contracting and building.He then purchased a large farm of coal-land at Minersville (now a part of Pittsburgh), and engaged in coal-mining and farming.Besides using some of the coal for his own works he supplied large quantities of it to other consumers, the combined business requiring the employment of a great number of men and horses.His next purchase was a large sawmill and property, an entire square, of John Irwin, the mill being on the opposite square from his grist-and-saw mill.MR. HERRON knew most of the children in Minersville by name, and he was loved and respected equally by them and by their parents.His charities were numerous.
In 1817 MR. HERRON married CLARISSA, daughter of MAJ. WILLIAM and NANCY (CANN) ANDERSON.To this union were born nine children: JAMES A. (deceased July 4, 1842, in his 25th year), WILLIAM A., JOHN D. (married to EMMA, daughter of SAMUEL THOMPSON), RICHARD G. (a colonel in the war of the rebellion, married to ANNETTE TOMLINSON), FRANCIS J. (the youngest general in the Union service during the civil war), DAVID R. (lieutenant of an Iowa battery), MARY ANN (married to REV. GEORGE A. LYON, D. D., of Erie, Pa.), ELIZA (married to RICHARD SILL, also of Erie, Pa.) and MARGARET D. (married to WILLIAM C. FRIEND, of Pittsburgh).
The family moved from Pittsburgh, where MR. HERRON owned a great deal of property, to Minersville in 1833, on account of his health.Here he built a Presbyterian church.He was an elder in the church.He died at his home in Minersville in May, 1863, regretted by thousands of people who admired his exemplary career throughout Western Pennsylvania.His wife died in May, 1873.